Sanofi-aventis Q1 hit by H1N1

Published: 28 Apr 2011

Sanofi-aventis (SA) has reported a 16.1 per cent fall in net income to €2.2bn at CER for the first quarter of 2011.

The company posted a 5.2 per cent decline in first-quarter sales to €7.8bn in 2011, including €569m of sales lost in 2011 due to generic competition,.

However, excluding A/H1N1 sales its first-quarter sales rose by 0.1 per cent.

The company said emerging markets sales increased by 14.6 per cent (excluding A/H1N1 sales) to €2.4bn, exceeding the US and Western Europe, and accounted for 30.7 per cent of group sales.

Christopher A Viehbacher, CEO, S-A, said: "This quarter, the year-on-year comparison must take into account the absence of non-recurring A/H1N1 sales. I'm particularly satisfied with the performance of our growth platforms which were up 15.5 per cent (excluding A/H1N1) and now represent almost 60 per cent of group sales; these businesses have compensated for the impact of generic competition on net sales and represent the future of our company."

S-A's EPS was €1.66, down 16.1 per cent at CER. Excluding A/H1N1 sales, the decrease in business EPS was limited to 6.0 per cent at CER.

Published: 28 Apr 2011

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